Contents

History

Background

House Greyjoy is one of the Great Houses of Westeros. Their lands are the Iron Islands off the west coast of the continent. They rule from their castle Pyke from the island of the same name. The Iron Islands are harsh and bleak and the Greyjoys have traditionally survived by raiding their neighbors. They have always had plans to conquer the mainland. The head of the house is the Lord Reaper of Pyke.[1]

Lord Balon Greyjoy is the most recent head of the house. He led a rebellion against King Robert Baratheon eight years before the events of the series begin. Balon's sons Rodrik and Maron were killed in the unsuccessful rebellion. Balon's only surviving son Theon was made a ward of Lord Eddard Stark to ensure Balon's submission to King Robert.[2] Only his daughter, Yara Greyjoy, and two of his brothers remained on the Iron Islands after his defeat.[3]

In the books

In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, the Greyjoys have been a powerful family in the Islands for possibly thousands of years, long ruling the formidable castle of Pyke. When King Harren the Black was slain by King Aegon the Conqueror during the Targaryen invasion, the ironborn elected Lord Vickon Greyjoy of Pyke to succeed him as ruler of the isles, now oath-sworn to the Iron Throne. The Greyjoys have ruled ever since. The Greyjoys keep themselves distant from the other Great Houses, rarely taking part in events on the mainland (which they call the green lands) and, at various times, even returning to their ancient practices of raiding the nearby coastlines.

After holding themselves aloof during Robert's Rebellion, Lord Balon Greyjoy rebelled against the Iron Throne, declaring himself King of the Isles. Balon's belief was that Robert, who had only been on the throne for five years, did not command the total support of the nobles due to his status as a usurper and would not be able to rally the support needed to crush the rebellion. He was proven wrong and was defeated, with his fleet burned and two eldest sons slain during the war.